The Right Door - A McRoll in the REAL World Story
by Mari217
Summary: A person dodging trouble definitely chooses the right door when asking for help.


_Sammy and Ilna, extra hugs for being the best of the best. Xoxoxo. Sammy thank you for another title._

 _REALMcRollers you are amazing and fabulous and your Iove and feedback warms our hearts!_

* * *

 _ **The Right Door**_

Cammie let out a low "woof" and moved from the kitchen where she was lying down to watch as Steve and Catherine got ready to prepare dinner and the next day's lunches, and trotted to the front door with her head up, ears alert.

Seconds later the doorbell rang, but before Catherine made it to the door, the visitor, not waiting for an answer, knocked repeatedly. The increasingly frantic knocking brought Steve out of the kitchen, and he stood beside Catherine as she looked through the small window in their front door.

"It's Ronny, from the pizzeria," she told Steve and opened the door to a wild-eyed, panting teenager who stumbled inside and, if it weren't for Steve's quick reflexes, would have fallen at their feet.

"C … c-commander … Lieutenant … th…thanks…" The boy gulped air and rested his hands on his knees as he bent to catch his breath.

Ronny was a high school junior who worked for the local pizzeria and often delivered to Steve and Catherine. Seeing him in this state had them exchanging a concerned glance as Catherine closed the door after looking outside. "Ronny? What's wrong?" She pointed to the sofa and said, "Sit. What's going on?"

Ronny nodded. "Thanks for letting me in, I'm sorry for banging like that but some guys were chasing me …" He looked at the window behind the sofa, but with the darkened street and house lights on it simply reflected his image.

" _Chasing_ you?" Steve said, "Wait here," and turned to take the stairs two at a time. Returning half a minute later, he handed Catherine her weapon and removed the safety from his SIG. "Tell us exactly what happened."

Ronny's eyes grew wider at the sight of Steve and Catherine in combat mode. "Yes, Sir, Commander, I was on Kinau by Pensacola. I made my delivery and was walking back to my car and these guys, about five of 'em, were just … leaning on it."

The coffee table was set for Steve and Catherine to have a light dinner, and Catherine filled a water glass with ice tea from the pitcher and handed it to the boy. "Here, don't gulp."

"Thanks, Lieutenant." He took a few sips and continued, "I just got a bad feeling. My grandmother would say a premonition, ya know? I said, 'What's up?' and they all started moving at me, and this short guy, he was holding a bat so I just turned and ran."

"That was smart; you were outnumbered," Catherine confirmed and placed a hand on Ronny's arm. "That's more than a block and a half away, you outran them all?"

"Yeah. I knew I was close to your house and I just figured you'd let me in. I was afraid to bang on some stranger's door because if they didn't open it I'd be screwed." He took a deep breath.

"Okay, listen," Catherine told the boy, as Steve moved to the door. "Go sit in the den. Away from the window, and let us check outside."

The boy nodded seriously. "Can I call my mom when you get back? That was my first delivery and I was supposed to bring dinner home. She's gonna worry if I'm late." His face fell. "And I'll need to call Mr. Lupinaccio, he's gotta send Paolo out to cover my other deliveries." He followed her as he kept explaining, "They're still in my car. Customers are gonna start calling asking where their food is. He's a great boss, he'll worry, too, if I don't pick up my phone …"

His conscientiousness reminded her of Grace and Cody, and she nodded in understanding. "You can call them as soon as we check outside," Catherine assured and led him into the den before telling Cammie to stay and joined Steve to follow him out the door.

* * *

 **Twenty minutes later**

Steve and Catherine returned to find Ronny sitting cross legged on their den floor with Cammie's head in his lap. He stood when they entered. "Did you find them?"

"Found and arrested." Catherine bent to greet Cammie with a hand through her fur. "Seems they had planned to rob the 7-Eleven further up on Piikoi, but when the manager got suspicious they left. They'd mugged two people yesterday and still had their victims' phones and credit cards. They saw you and thought you'd have cash from your deliveries."

Steve nodded. "We found them half a block away. HPD has them in custody."

Ronny sighed audibly. "Wow. I guess I came to the right house, huh?" He sighed, relieved. "Can I call home, now? My phone's still in my car…"

"Use mine." Catherine offered her cell. "Then Steve will drive you back to your car. You'll need to make a statement, but your parents can bring you by the station tomorrow."

Ronny was smiling as he dialed and explained to his mother what had happened. "Um, Commander? My mom wants to talk to you." He held out the phone.

Catherine smiled as she heard Steve's portion of the conversation. "He's fine, Ma'am. Yes. He did exactly the right thing. He came to our house because he was familiar with us. That's not necessary, Ma'am. I … you're welcome." Steve ended the call and handed the phone to Catherine. "C'mon, Ronny, let's get you home."

"Can I call Mr. Lupinaccio from the car? Uh oh." He looked concerned, and Catherine laid a hand on his arm.

"Are you okay? You can leave the car overnight and we'll get you right home if you'd rather."

"I'm okay, it's just … if we don't make a delivery, we gotta pay for the food, it's a rule." He shrugged and slumped a little. "Mr. L. is cool, he's a great boss, but people have screwed up and just left without delivering, or stolen food from the orders before, so that's why the rule."

Steve and Catherine exchanged a look and had a silent conversation as he handed the boy his cell. "Use this, so Catherine can have her phone back. Explain to your boss and then let me talk to him. We're gonna stop for your car and I'll follow you home."

The boy brightened, "'kay, Commander." He thanked Catherine again and followed Steve out to the truck.

After they made the short drive to Ronny's car, Steve spoke to his boss and handed the phone back to the boy.

"Thanks, Mr. L. Yeah. I appreciate it. I'll be in tomorrow regular time." Ronny pocketed the phone and looked at Steve "Thanks for that, Commander."

Steve nodded. "I know there's a rule, but almost getting robbed and leading us to a group of muggers we got off the street is definitely a good reason for you to have missed a delivery or two. I knew once we explained it, Mr. Lupinaccio wasn't going to dock you for the food."

"I see why Cody and Jess say you're so cool."

"You know them?"

"I know Jess better. We're in band together."

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Ronny sat in the band room where the kids often gathered before or after school to do homework. A junior named DJ finished up a calculus problem and closed his book as they talked._

" _So you been to his house for your work, right? Dude, do you gotta like announce yourself so you don't get, like, shot or have guard dogs after you …? Is there a huge fence? Or does he not need one, 'cause who'd try to bust in there?"_

 _Ronny shook his head. "No, it's a regular house. I deliver to him and the Lieutenant a couple times a month at least. They're real nice to me. Always tip good, too."_

 _Jess grinned from where she was sitting a few desks away. "You're talking about Commander McGarrett? He's really cool. Lieutenant Rollins, too. And their house is just a regular house, like Ronny said. And they only have one dog, Cammie." She looked at him in mock seriousness. "You saw her on Twitter I bet, taking that guy down?"_

" _Yeah, wouldn't mess with that. And you been_ inside _Commander McGarrett's_ house _? For real? You weren't nervous around them?"_

" _I was there over Christmas break," Jess explained. "They invited me to come over with Cody and his family. And why would I be nervous? I'm not a criminal, that's who should be scared of the task force. Cody always says how great they've been to him and his brothers and sisters." She looked at DJ like he was being ridiculous._

" _Damn. Jadon said Cody was tight with Commander McGarrett. That he'd hung out with the head of the task force, too. I thought he was just bein' … Jadon."_

" _Jadon wasn't exaggerating." She grinned. "For once."_

" _Damn." DJ repeated as Jess turned to one of the group of girls she was sitting with._

" _And guess what? The Commander proposed to Lieutenant Rollins over the holiday. And he didn't have a ring yet, so he used a prize from Cody's little brother's birthday party. Isn't that so adorable? Cody said they're gonna have a smallish wedding probably." Looking around, she was grinning as she worried her lip. "I was kinda hoping Cody can ask a guest so that he'd ask me. I've never been to a wedding that wasn't family …"_

" _Wait, wait," DJ stopped her. "You're_ goin' _to Commander McGarrett's_ wedding?"

 _Jess shook her head. "I just said I hope I get invited."_

" _That would be incredible!"_

" _So awesome."_

 _Two of her friends echoed._

" _I saw her real ring, it's_ so _beautiful," Jess gushed, and the girls began a discussion about dresses and Catherine's ring, and the boys' chatter turned to how cool it was that the latest task force arrest that made the news was a take down of a drug cartel._

* * *

 **Present day**

Steve entered the house, and Catherine raised her eyebrows at the two bags of food he carried. "What's all that?"

"I talked to Ronny's boss at the pizzeria. He's a nice guy, he wouldn't dock the kid for the unmade deliveries, but he'd have to take to loss, so I offered …"

"You offered to buy the food." She took one of the bags as they moved to sit at the coffee table. "Softie." She kissed his cheek. "I put our dinner ingredients back in the fridge. What's in here? We can have this."

He shrugged. "It's two separate orders, we can freeze one or take it for lunch."

"Did you even ask what it was?" She smiled. Steve wouldn't want the pizza owner to lose the income any more than he'd want the kid to lose his pay.

"No," he admitted. "But the slip says," he read the bag, "Chicken marsala. What's in that one?"

Catherine read the receipt. "Mmm, calzones and Italian salad. Let's have these. The chicken will keep better."

As they sat to eat, Steve said, "Ronny knows Cody and Jess."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's in band." His eyes crinkled with a smile. "Apparently we came up at school."

"We did?"

"We did. Somebody asked if we live in a fortress with a bunch of guard dogs." He grinned.

"Cody set them straight?" She grinned at Cammie.

"Jess did. And Ronny. Who thinks we're cool, by the way."

Catherine chuckled at his proud look.

"She wants to come to the wedding," Steve said around a gulp of iced tea.

"Jess?"

"Yeah, Ronny mentioned she was hoping Cody would ask her and ..." he ran a hand over his face. "I sound like Gracie."

Catherine laughed. "That's a very serious date, you know."

He furrowed his brow. "Our wedding?"

"Any wedding. Taking someone to a wedding is a serious date."

"That's like … a thing?"

She kissed his cheek. "Yes. That's a thing."

"No wonder …"

"What?"

"I'd get a lot of questions every time we went to a wedding."

She chuckled again as she saw recognition dawn. "We always got a lot of questions, Steve. Ten, fifteen years together will do that, but especially at a wedding."

He looked serious. "Did you mind? I mean, you never said …"

"Of course I didn't mind. We were on our path to right here and now. You know I wouldn't change a thing."

He looked relieved. "Good. Love you." His eyes widened. "Hey, Cody and Jess didn't ah, define anything - that a problem?" he teased.

"Was never one for us." She winked. "And they're kids - so nothing to worry about. It's totally fine." She patted his cheek. "Nobody is going to ask a sixteen year old his intentions."

She pushed the remnants of dinner to the middle of the table and moved into his lap. "Besides, we have something very important to discuss."

Their foreheads touched and he moved to lie down, taking her with him. "Such as?"

"Gimme a minute, Commander." She toyed with the collar of his shirt. "I'll think of something."

Their laughter echoed through the room before a kiss silenced them both.

 _#_

 _End thanks for reading._

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